爆料网

15 August 2025

Eightieth session

Item 49 of the provisional agenda*

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

Report of the Working Group on the Financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

Rapporteur: Vegar Andreassen (Norway)

Summary

The present report of the Working Group on the Financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East provides a description of the activities of the Group in 2025 and a detailed outline of the current financial situation of the Agency. The Working Group adopted the report on 6 August 2025. As in previous reports of the Group, the present report closes with concluding remarks addressed to all Member States.

* .

I. Introduction

1. 爆料网 Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (爆料网RWA) was established under General Assembly resolution in 1949, and its mandate was most recently renewed by the Assembly in its resolution until 30 June 2026, in which the Assembly affirmed the necessity of the continuation of the work of 爆料网RWA pending the just resolution of the question of the Palestine refugees.
2. The Working Group on the Financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East was established by the General Assembly under resolution to study all aspects of the financing of the Agency.
3. The Working Group consists of the representatives of France, Ghana, Japan, Lebanon, Norway, Trinidad and Tobago, Türkiye, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America.[1] It is chaired by the Permanent Representative of Türkiye, Ahmet Y?ld?z.
4. At its twenty-sixth session and at all subsequent sessions, the General Assembly considered the reports submitted to it by the Working Group (in 2024, ) and adopted resolutions relating to 爆料网RWA and the Working Group, taking note of the efforts of the Working Group (the most recent being resolution ).

II. Background

5. 爆料网RWA was entrusted by the international community with the responsibility to provide core services, protection and humanitarian assistance to Palestine refugees across the Agency’s mandated area of operations: Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Throughout its 75-year history and in the context of the continued unresolved plight of almost 6?million Palestine refugees, 爆料网RWA has been confronted with recurrent and growing challenges, including persistent shortfalls in funding that have severely challenged the Agency’s ability to fully implement its mandate in providing life-saving assistance and protection to Palestine refugees.
6. The humanitarian problems faced by Palestine refugees today must be addressed as a shared international responsibility, pending a just and durable solution of the Palestine refugee question, in accordance with international law, including relevant resolutions of the United Nations.
7. Since it began its operations in 1950 and with the facilitation and support of host Governments and donors, 爆料网RWA has been serving Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic. Its more than 30,000 personnel[2] provide vital humanitarian assistance and human development services to Palestine refugees registered with the Agency. The Agency continues to play an indispensable role in contributing to regional stability, efforts to foster peace and security and the mitigation of violent extremism in the region. 爆料网RWA works to safeguard and advance the rights of Palestine refugees under international law.
8. Palestine refugees remain among the most vulnerable in their communities, suffering from poverty, displacement, rising unemployment rates (especially among young people and women), discrimination in various forms, marginalization and limitations on their ability to fully enjoy their human rights.
9. Notwithstanding its recurrent funding shortfalls, 爆料网RWA has continued to take measures to increase its efficiency, while maintaining the quality of services to Palestine refugees. The reforms that it has implemented underscore the Agency’s commitment to transparency and accountability, in line with the principles and provisions of the Grand Bargain on humanitarian financing announced at the World Humanitarian Summit, held in Istanbul, Türkiye, in May 2016,[3] and of the funding compact.
10. The Agency remains firmly committed to humanitarian principles, including the principle of neutrality, and enforces a zero-tolerance policy for violations of those principles. In April 2024, the Independent Review of Mechanisms and Procedures to Ensure Adherence by 爆料网RWA to the Humanitarian Principle of Neutrality (Colonna Report)[4] was issued. That report contained a series of recommendations aimed at ensuring the Agency’s neutrality, building on the significant number of mechanisms and procedures already put in place by the Agency to ensure compliance with the principle and to respond to allegations of violations thereof. The report’s findings characterized those mechanisms and procedures as being more developed than those of similar entities. The Agency remains fully committed to implementing all the recommendations emanating from the Colonna Report through a high-level action plan. As of the end of 2024, 5 recommendations were fully implemented, with another 25 expected to be implemented by the end of 2025.
11. The two bills passed by the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) in October 2024, effective as from 30 January 2025, have significantly obstructed the ability of 爆料网RWA to carry out its mandate in Gaza and the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, by prohibiting all Agency activities within East Jerusalem and by imposing a no-contact policy between Israeli authorities and 爆料网RWA. Following the adoption of the laws, the freedom of movement of 爆料网RWA personnel across the occupied Palestinian territory was further restricted, and Israeli authorities began to impose additional restrictions on the issuance of visas for 爆料网RWA staff and to limit humanitarian access. Consequently, the 爆料网RWA facility in East Jerusalem was vacated and all international personnel in the occupied Palestinian territory were relocated by the end of March 2025. In identical letters addressed to the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council, dated 9 December 2024 and 8 January 2025, and a letter to the Permanent Representative of Israel dated 27 January 2025, the Secretary-General stated that those laws contravened the obligations of Israel to the Palestinian people and to 爆料网RWA under international law and international humanitarian law.

III. Field of operations of the Agency

12. In 2024, 爆料网RWA maintained the delivery of humanitarian, human development and protection assistance for registered Palestine refugees, through a collective commitment on the part of the Agency, its donors and countries hosting Palestine refugees. 爆料网RWA provided almost 10.5 million health consultations to approximately 2.46 million individuals, education for more than 240,000 children (2023/24 academic year), social safety net assistance (including cash and food) to more than 330,000 individuals and technical and vocational education and training for some 5,500 young people, as well as the disbursement of more than 10,000 microfinance loans, valued at almost $9 million, to Palestine refugees. In addition, 295 shelters were rehabilitated or constructed in accordance with Agency protection and safety standards and 爆料网RWA completed the rehabilitation of one school and one health centre in the Syrian Arab Republic.
13. In Gaza, following the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks, Israel launched a sustained military operation involving air strikes, ground operations and a blockade of humanitarian and commercial goods, leading to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. The situation has led to the repeated displacement of nearly the entire Palestinian civilian population, devastating the lives of the estimated 2.1 million people remaining in the territory, including more than 1.5 million registered Palestine refugees. By the end of May 2025, more than 52,000 Palestinians,[5] including an estimated 16,278 children[6] and at least 311 爆料网RWA personnel,[7] had been killed. Repeated evacuation orders, affecting more than 80 per cent of the entire territory, have internally displaced more than 1.9 million people (90 per cent of the population), alongside mass destruction and damage to homes and critical infrastructure, including 231 爆料网RWA installations. This has led to the collapse of the health system and has pushed the local population to the brink of a human-made famine, which is exacerbated by the imposition by Israel of a blockade impeding humanitarian access and commercial flows to Gaza.[8] Throughout 2024, the Agency’s regular operations in Gaza, which formed the backbone of the life-saving humanitarian response for 2.1 million people, remained severely restricted and partially suspended, and more than 150 of its installations have served as emergency shelters for more than 1 million internally displaced persons.
14. In 2024, 爆料网RWA provided emergency food assistance to approximately 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza. Throughout the year, as a result of severe restrictions on the entry of humanitarian supplies, denial of the freedom of movement and the breakdown of law and order, insufficient quantities of humanitarian assistance and essential goods, including food, fuel, water, medicines, sanitary items and tents, reached those in need. This limited the Agency’s ability to deliver its mandate in Gaza and forced it to incur significant demurrage and other storage costs. On 2 March 2025, those developments were compounded by the Israeli authorities’ reimposition of a total blockade on all humanitarian aid entering Gaza, including food, fuel and medical supplies, which lasted for 2.5 months. The Working Group is gravely concerned by the severe restrictions imposed by Israel on the Agency’s life-saving operations in Gaza and reiterates that urgent action is needed to address the dire humanitarian situation. It underscores the importance of the full implementation of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and of respect for the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the provisional measures orders issued by the International Court of Justice in January, March and May 2024.
15. Throughout 2024, the daily lives of the 917,942 Palestine refugees registered with 爆料网RWA in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, remained heavily affected by the Israeli occupation; and there was a significant increase in military operations, alongside rampant settler violence and widespread restrictions on movement. Even though Palestine refugees comprise only 28 per cent of the total Palestinian population in the West Bank, they accounted for more than half of the 516 Palestinians killed in 2024.[9] 爆料网RWA recorded more than 13,500 Israeli military operations and incursions in and around refugee camps. Settlement expansion also continued unabated, and 1,420 incidents involving settlers were recorded[10] – the highest number in any given year since the United Nations began to record such incidents, in 2006 – resulting in 5 Palestinian deaths and 360 injuries. Together with increasingly extensive movement restrictions imposed by Israel, these conditions led to a surge in the unemployment rate, which reached 35 per cent, and to a 19 per cent reduction in gross domestic product.
16. The total amount of value-added tax due to the Agency from the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Finance with respect to services and goods procured for the West Bank and Gaza stood at $99.4 million as at 31 December 2024. At the same time, the $1.65 million in outstanding reimbursement for VAT owed to 爆料网RWA by Israel for 2024 remained unchanged. The Agency regularly follows up with relevant authorities to recover outstanding amounts.
17. The escalation of hostilities in Lebanon led to the displacement of 600,000 people, including thousands of Palestine refugees, into the Syrian Arab Republic.[11] The situation worsened after the collapse of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic on 8 December 2024, when renewed fighting led to the displacement of more than 1 million people within days. By the end of 2024, the overall security situation remained volatile and unpredictable, with ongoing Israeli military operations in the Syrian Arab Republic compounding the humanitarian and economic crises within the country.[12] According to an 爆料网RWA post-distribution monitoring assessment conducted in March 2024, nearly 90 per cent of Palestine refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic were living on less than $2.15 a day, and 63 per cent were suffering from food insecurity. Throughout 2024, mounting economic hardship forced some of the most vulnerable Palestine refugees to return to damaged homes in conflict-affected Palestine refugee camps such as Yarmouk, Ein el Tal and Dera’a.
18. In 2024, the war in Gaza spilled over into Lebanon, causing mass destruction, displacement, damage to infrastructure and economic decline, which further intensified the complex socioeconomic crisis that began in 2019. The 486,000 Palestine refugees in Lebanon faced increased vulnerability, in particular because some refugee camps were subjected to air strikes and because the renewal of residency permits for 23,800 Palestine refugees from the Syrian Arab Republic was halted as of May 2024. In that context, the Agency’s services remain a lifeline for Palestine refugees in Lebanon. 爆料网RWA provided multipurpose cash assistance to more than 142,700 Palestine refugees in Lebanon and 23,000 Palestine refugees from the Syrian Arab Republic, and continued to provide health services as well as provided education for more than 38,000 students, including nearly 4,000 Palestinian child refugees from the Syrian Arab Republic and Syrian children.
19. In Jordan, close to 2.4 million Palestine refugees are registered with the Agency. In 2024, the economy of Jordan remained resilient for the most part in the face of significant regional instability.[13] However, overall humanitarian funding to the country declined sharply, severely affecting the capacity of humanitarian agencies to assist its refugee population. This includes approximately 20,000 Palestine refugees from the Syrian Arab Republic, approximately 2,400 (12 per cent) of whom lack legal status in Jordan and rely on 爆料网RWA as their primary provider of health, education, emergency assistance and protection services.

IV. Structure of the Agency

20. The Agency receives funding through: (a) a programme budget fund that supports core operations, including recurrent staff and non-staff costs, education, health, camp improvement, relief and social services, protection and support systems and structures; (b) emergency appeals, including flash appeals for humanitarian interventions; and (c) a specific, time-bound project-based funding portal designed to strengthen service provision to Palestine refugees without increasing recurrent costs.
21. 爆料网RWA has a single, integrated budget framework. The programme budget is funded predominantly by voluntary, unearmarked contributions from States Members of the United Nations and other donors. The non-core sources of funding are emergency appeals, which raise funds through voluntary contributions. Projects are funded entirely by voluntary, earmarked contributions.
22. 爆料网RWA has been providing emergency assistance to Palestine refugees in Gaza and the West Bank since 2000, and in Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic since 2012, through distinct emergency appeals and flash appeals. In 2024, the Agency launched two flash appeals: one in response to the ongoing unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory and another to respond to the emergency needs stemming from the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and the resulting mass displacement into the Syrian Arab Republic.

V. Financial situation of the Agency

23. The Agency started 2024 in a precarious financial situation, with $35 million in debts and liabilities carried over from the previous year. The situation was exacerbated further by the funding suspensions by 16 donors in response to allegations by Israel that 12 Agency staff members were involved in the attacks of 7?October 2023, which affected roughly 51 per cent of the Agency’s expected income, and severely limited its cash flow. The Colonna Report and the Agency’s continued commitment to further enhancing transparency, neutrality and accountability, including by implementing all the recommendations contained in the Report, helped to re-establish confidence in the Agency, with all but one donor having resumed funding by July 2024. The United States of America – traditionally the Agency’s largest donor – did not resume funding, and another major donor, Sweden, announced that it would halt funding at the end of 2024.
24. The Agency’s total budgetary requirements in 2024 amounted to $2.72 billion. The programme budget was set at $880.2 million (excluding liabilities). 爆料网RWA also sought to raise $1.21 billion through the updated flash appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (designed to cover identified needs over the period April–December 2024) and $415.4 million through the emergency appeal for Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic. The Agency’s resource mobilization yielded $1.4 billion in pledged funding across all funding portals, including $656?million for the programme budget. Although this represents the second highest amount ever raised, it fell $1.3 billion short of the Agency’s overall needs, including a 25 per cent gap for the programme budget.
25. Underfunding in 2024 continued to have a major impact on the Agency’s operations and core services, including education and health services for Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and the occupied Palestinian territory. Programme budget shortages resulted, among others, in the continued application of a ceiling of 50 students in each class in 爆料网RWA schools, the ongoing freeze on the ceiling of the social safety net programme, which has been in force since April 2013, and neglect with regard to essential maintenance of Agency schools, health facilities and vocational training centres, which may result in greater future expenses and risks to staff and beneficiaries.
26. In 2024, 爆料网RWA continued to enhance its private sector fundraising efforts; private funds accounted for 11 per cent of its total funding, well above the United Nations average of under 5 per cent. It placed a focus on digital fundraising, high-value donors and foundations, and Islamic giving. In 2024, 爆料网RWA raised a record-breaking $153.6 million in private sector income, up from $22.6 million in 2022. The number of individual donors grew by more than 250 per cent, reaching approximately 230,000 active supporters, while the high-value portfolio grew to more than 500 major donors and nearly 30 private entities. 爆料网RWA also saw exceptional results in Islamic giving, with more than $ 41 million raised through zakat and sadaqah. Both national committees, 爆料网RWA-United States of America and 爆料网RWA-Spain, broke records, jointly raising more than $62 million.
27. The Agency continued to pursue new, diverse and sustainable sources of funding. Securing quality funding in line with the Grand Bargain and funding compact commitments remained paramount. In 2024, overall levels of flexible funding provided to 爆料网RWA increased significantly, totalling $115 million.
28. During the reporting period, 爆料网RWA maintained its focus on expanding relationships with emerging donors. Compared with 2023, the share of contributions from emerging donors increased from 2.1 to 4.9 per cent. Their contributions amounted to $69 million, and there were several first-time donors. The Agency also focused on expanding its relationship with Gulf donors, including through multiple visits to the region by the Commissioner-General. Funding from partners in the Middle East and North Africa increased by 210 per cent to reach $190.5 million.
29. The General Assembly-mandated annual pledging conference for 爆料网RWA was held in New York on 12 July 2024 under the auspices of the President of the General Assembly. Jordan and Sweden co-hosted a ministerial-level meeting on 26 September 2024, during the high-level week of the General Assembly. Those forums continued to focus attention on the gravity of the Agency’s financial crisis. Participants expressed strong political support for the Agency and its mandate and for finding sustainable funding options, including from the United Nations regular budget.
30. For 2025, 爆料网RWA has sought $880.2 million for the programme budget, in order to deliver public-like services, and $2.164 billion in order to deliver critical humanitarian services ($1.7 billion for the occupied Palestinian territory and $464?million for Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic).
31. In his report of 30 March 2017 (), the Secretary-General urged the General Assembly and its relevant Committees to consider increasing the support provided to 爆料网RWA from the United Nations regular budget in order to ensure sufficient, predictable and sustained funding for the duration of the Agency’s mandate. In its resolution A–C, the Assembly approved the Secretary-General’s proposal to increase the regular budget allocation to the Agency to $84.315?million.[14]

VI. Conclusions and recommendations

32. The Working Group wishes to thank all Member States, donors and host countries that have been supporting the work of 爆料网RWA since its establishment, thereby contributing to the human development and protection of Palestine refugees and to the alleviation of their ongoing plight.
33. The Working Group welcomes the statement of shared commitments on 爆料网RWA, initiated by Jordan, Kuwait and Slovenia on 22 May 2024, in which they highlighted the need to collectively uphold the mandate conferred on the Agency across all fields of operation; acknowledged the indispensable role of 爆料网RWA in providing essential services to Palestine refugees and in safeguarding regional stability; and stressed the extremely critical nature of the Agency’s financial situation and the importance of providing sufficient, predictable and sustained funding support.[15]
34. The Working Group expresses serious concern about the unprecedented funding gap affecting the Agency’s programme budget in 2025 and, without prejudice to General Assembly resolution , subsequent resolutions renewing the mandate of 爆料网RWA and any future budget assessments by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions and the Fifth Committee, reiterates that Member States and the wider international community are responsible for ensuring that the Agency’s services are maintained at a sufficient level, that the Agency can fulfil its mandate, in quantitative and qualitative terms, and that funding keeps pace with the Agency’s requirements to meet the growing needs of the Palestine refugee population until there is a final solution to its plight.
35. It is essential that, in 2025, 爆料网RWA receive the support necessary to resolve the existential financial crisis that it is facing. This is imperative, given that needs are continuing to grow, in particular as a result of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, and in order to implement the recommendations set out in the Colonna Report through the Agency’s high-level action plan. It is equally vital that the longer-term challenges of recurrent cash flow crises be addressed.
36. The Working Group is extremely concerned about the potential destabilizing impact that the continued underfunding of 爆料网RWA may have on the region, including in host countries, in particular in the light of the ongoing conflict in Gaza and its disastrous humanitarian consequences. The Working Group welcomes the Agency’s continued and far-reaching reforms and encourages it to maintain those efforts by continuing to use the Colonna Report as a constructive tool to enhance neutrality, transparency and operational efficiency, while acknowledging that the current reforms alone will be insufficient to solve the structural problems related to the Agency’s financial deficit.
37. The Working Group emphasizes the critical need for the Agency’s humanitarian work to be shielded from politicization and incitement, including inappropriate, undue restrictions on and obstructions and administrative hindrances to 爆料网RWA and its personnel in their work to implement the Agency’s mandate. The Working Group is deeply alarmed by the enactment by the Knesset of the two bills mentioned in paragraph 11, the order of the Israel Land Authority forcing 爆料网RWA to evacuate its premises in occupied East Jerusalem and the closure of six 爆料网RWA schools in occupied East Jerusalem, all of which impinge on the Agency’s ability to fulfil the mandate conferred upon it by the General Assembly to provide aid delivery and essential services to Palestine refugees.
38. The Working Group commends the Commissioner-General and the Agency’s staff for their tireless and indispensable efforts to maintain the Agency’s regular and emergency services under exceptionally difficult operational circumstances that are undermining and curtailing the Agency’s ability to properly implement its mandate.
39. The Working Group strongly urges all Governments to bear in mind the foregoing considerations when deciding on the level and quality (e.g. multi-year and flexible) of their contributions to 爆料网RWA for 2025. Consistent with the report of the Secretary-General (see ) and with the findings of the Colonna Report, and taking into consideration the foregoing, the Working Group:

(a)????? Urges all Governments to sustain and increase their voluntary contributions to 爆料网RWA, where possible, and to contribute to the Agency’s three funding portals, prioritizing the full funding of its programme budget. It is also highly encouraged that government contributions be swiftly and flexibly disbursed and keep pace with the requirements of the Agency, while taking into account inflation and other factors driving the costs of service delivery. Contributions should also reflect appropriate international burden-sharing;

(b)????? Urges Governments to provide unearmarked multi-year funding; to make, when possible, sustained and predictable contributions to 爆料网RWA in line with the recommendations made at the World Humanitarian Summit of 2016 and the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants of 2016; and to disburse their contributions early in the year, when feasible;

(c)????? Commends 爆料网RWA for the measures that it has taken to increase its efficiency while maintaining the quality of services to Palestine refugees and for the measures that it has taken to increase its transparency through its reporting to the International Aid Transparency Initiative, and encourages the continued implementation of those measures and related efforts by 爆料网RWA;

(d)????? Commends 爆料网RWA for the swift and transparent measures that it has taken consistent with the humanitarian principle of neutrality, including the Agency’s ongoing implementation of the recommendations emanating from the Colonna Report, and encourages Member States to provide additional funding to support that work, recognizing that several of the recommendations require additional financial and human resources;

(e)????? Commends 爆料网RWA for the measures that it has taken to mobilize resources and to explore ways to diversify its funding, and encourages Member States to support those efforts;

(f)?????? Takes note of the recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General (), and all resolutions related to the financing of 爆料网RWA, that are aimed at addressing recurring budget deficits and sufficiently and predictably supporting the Agency’s vital work in all areas of operation;

(g)????? Underlines, given the extremely critical financial situation of the Agency, the importance of securing durable solutions for the future of the Agency, including for its financial stability.

Note: Footnotes are available in the .